Vehicle lock protector

ABSTRACT

A motor vehicle lock protector device enclosing the push button associated with a vehicle door lock in such manner as to prevent tampering therewith to provide security against vehicle theft and manipulation by children riding in the vehicle. The device is mounted on the vehicle door frame and positioned over the push button. The device may define an opening on the side facing the interior of the vehicle to provide access to the push button from the interior of the vehicle, or a door may be used to close the opening to provide the child safety feature. A latch requiring strength normally inherent in adults but not in children may be used to maintain the door of the protector device in secured closed position to further enhance the child safety feature. The latch is located so as to be more accessible to the driver relative to passengers such as children that may be riding within the vehicle.

United States Patent 191 Juarbe Feb. 19, 1.974

[ VEHICLE LOCK PROTECTOR 3,082,028 3/1963 Werle 292/1 [76] Inventor:Puro De Jesus Juarbe, PO. Box

5 32 Riverdale, 20840 Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin [22] Filed: Apr.13, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl' -7 A motor vehicle lock protectordevice enclosing the push button associated with a vehicle door lock in[52] US. Cl. 292/1 such manner as to prevent tampering therewith to pro-[51] Int. Cl. E05b l/04, E056 21/00 vide security against vehicle theftand manipulation by [58] Field of Search ..292/ 146,288, 1, DIG. 23,children riding in the vehicle. The device is mounted 292/DIG. 37,-67;135/5 R,5 E; 200/42 R, on the vehicle door frame and positioned over the42 T, 42 A; 70/ 1 8i 185 push button. The device may define an openingon the side facing the interior of the vehicle to provide access 5References Cited to the push button from tllie interior of the vehicle,gr a door may be used to c ose the opening to provi e UNITED STATESPATENTS the child safety feature. A. latch requiring strength g i l lnormally inherent in adults but not in children may be 2793064 5/1957 HX used to maintain the door of the protector device in 3:247:691 4/1966MartinI:II:l:II: IIIIL. 70/181 Secured closed Position to furtherenhance the Child 3,109,900 11/1963 Van Hook 200 42 R Safety feature-The latch is located as to be more 3,606,421 9/1971 Reichenbach 292 1wressible to the driver relative to Passengers Such as 3,502,369 3 1970Trammell 292/288 x children tha may be riding within the vehicle.3,527,914 9/1970 Spacek 200/42 T 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 VEHICLELOCK PROTECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention Theinvention relates to a motor vehicle lock protector positioned over adoor lock to prevent tampering portant feature of the invention becauseit is disclosed as thwarting unauthorized attempts to gain access.Reichenbach US. Pat. No. 3,606,421 discloses a removable antipilferingdevice which does not permit ready accessibility to the door lock buttonby authorized persons and which, moreover, is cumbersome because it isattached to the door frame both at the top and bottom of the window.Both Saksa et al. and Reichenbach are concerned only with the preventionof theft of the vehicle.

Safety devices for automobile push button locks to provide some measureof protection against tampering by children are also known to the art.Budoff US. Pat. No. 2,793,064 discloses a device designed for safetypurposes which may provide some measure of protection against theft.However this device is cumbersome and is not readily operable byauthorized personnel. Martin US. Pat. No. 3,247,691 relates to a safetydevicewhich renders the push buttons selectively inaccessible forunlocking without tools, or accessible for ready locking and unlocking,at the choice of the operator of the vehicle. In the depressed conditionthe push buttons can only be raised by means of insertion of a narrowinstrument through a slot in the barrel to engage under an appropriateraising lip on the push button guard. Van Hook U.S,. Pat. No. 3,109,900teaches a tubular guard of adjustable length designed particularly tokeep the fingers of children away from an actuating mechanism. Thedevice is open on top with a cross bar across the diameter to furtherguard against a childs hand being insertedThe Martin and Van Hookdevices are rather complicated in design.

SUMMARY oF THE DISCLOSURE These and other disadvantages of the prior,art are solved by the instant invention which provides a relativelysimple and inexpensive protector device to'prevent tampering with thepush button of the vehicle door lock from outside the vehicle byunauthorized personnel, and which also provides for the safety of childpassengers by thwarting their access -to the push button from within thevehicle. The protector device comprises a housing which is made of rigidmaterial to prevent access to the push button by unauthorized personnel.In one embodiment of the invention, an access opening is defined by thehousing to enable operation of the push button from within the vehicle.In another embodiment of the invention, a door is associated with thehousing, the door having latching means associated 2. therewith toenable the doorto be opened by an adult but to thwart opening of thedoor by a child passenger. In this manner access to the push button byoperation of the housing door is substantially limited to adults.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional viewillustrating the positioning of the housing over the push button of thevehi' cle door lock and shows the mounting of the housing on the doorframe of a vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the housing positioned over thepush button;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the relative positioning of thehousing over the push button, as well as its relative location withrespect to the window and the door frame of the vehicle;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the inventionwherein the housing has a door associated therewith.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows the push button lockprotector device 10 according to the inventionmounted on the window sillportion 29 of automobile door frame 24. The protector device is shown ingreater detail in FIG. 2 as comprising a hollow and essentiallyrectangular housing having rigid side portions l1, l2 and Band topportion 14. Ends 15 and 1 6 of side portions 11 and 13, respectively,and end 17 of top portion 14 define rectangular access opening 18 withthe door frame 25 when protector device 10 is mounted thereon. Thehousing further comprises'extensions l9 and 20 respectively comprisingflanged sections extending from sides 11 and 13. Extensions l9 and 21define small diameter holes 21 and 22 respectively.

Automobile door lock push button 23 is of the conventional type which indepressed condition causes the automobile doorto lock and in raisedcondition causes the automobile door to be unlocked. In FIG. 1, the pushbutton 23 is in its raised condition wherein the automobile door isunlocked. The height of housing 10 is selectedto enable manual operationof push button 23 through access opening 18. The housing 10 is ofsufficient size to completely enclose push button 23 with the exceptionof access opening 18.

FIG. 1 shows in cross section the relevant positions of housing 10, pushbutton 23 and door frame 24. The

. metal support post 25 and door handle 26 are also illustrated. Screws27 and 27. respectively fixedly secure housing 10 flush to the windowsill portion 29 of door frame 24; The relative positioning of window 28,push button 23, housing 10, and door frame 24, with housing 10 beingfixed to door frame 24, is shown in FIG. 3. Access opening 18 is locatedin a plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of window 28.Under these conditions, access to push button 23 is only possiblethrough access opening 18. This functions to thwart manipulation of thepush button by unauthorized personnel outside the automobile byinsertion .of a wire or other type of burglar device between the windowsof the automobile. Thus push button 23 will be inaccessible from the topbecause of rigid top portion 14, or from the side because of rigid sideportion 12 adjacent to the window, or from the sides blocked by rigidportions 11 and 13. Further, it would be extremely difficult tomanipulate a wire or other type of device from the outside into accessopening 18 to raise the push button to unlock the door from the outside.Consequently the device according to the invention provides a relativelysimple but yet extremely effective means of preventing theft of theautomobile or its contents by unauthorized persons.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4 of the drawingswherein housing is similar to that shown and described with reference toFIG. 2 with the exception that a door 30 is secured by hinge means 31 tothe edge of side portion 11. The door 30 selectively opens and closesaccess opening 18. The hinge means 31 may have conventional springbiasing means which maintain the door in a normally closed position butwhich may be opened by manual pressure. Further, in order to preventunlocking of the door by unauthorized persons from within theautomobile, such as children, the spring bias means may be madesufficiently strong to enable opening thereof only by one havingsufficient strength, that is, by an adult. A further safety device mayinclude a housing door latch consisting of section 32 extending fromhousing door 30 which defines groove 33 which interlocks with raisedportion 34 defined by side portion 13 when the housing door is closed.The housing door latch should be relatively tight such that it can beopened with ease by an adult but only with great difficulty or not atall by a child. This type of housing door latch and the spring biasmeans are conventional in the art and are therefore not described indetail herein.

The protector device according to the invention thus provides arelatively simple and inexpensive housing which prevents tampering byunauthorized personnel from outside the car when the car is locked andthe window is closed, and which further provides for access thereto byauthorized personnel within the vehicle to enable operation of the pushbutton to the desired position. It prevents access to the push button bya child within the vehicle through the use of the housing door latchfeatures described above. Additional convenience and safety may beattained by positioning'the housing door latch to be most accessible tothe driver and least accessible to a child passenger.

The invention is not to be considered as limited to the particularrectangular housing configuration shown in the drawings and described inthe specification as other shape housings may alternatively be employed.The

4 housing may comprise any rigid material such as plastic, metal and thelike.

What is claimed is:

l. A protector device for use with an automobile door lock push buttonof the type which projects upwardly from the automobile door frame atthe window sill for the door window and which is raised to unlock thedoor and lowered to lock the door, comprising:

a rigid housing positioned onto the door frame and completely enclosingthe push button except for an access opening defined by the rigidhousing and the door frame facing the interior of the automobile in aplane substantially parallel to the plane of the window,

means to securely mount the rigid housing to the door frame, access tothe push button thereby being possible only through said access openingto thwart tampering therewith from the outside of the automobile whenthe window is closed and the door is locked,

housing door means connected to the rigid housing, the housing doormeans being selectively operable to provide access to the access openingin its open position and to close the access opening in its closedposition,

means to latch the housing door means in its closed position to cut offaccess to the push button,

spring bias means connecting the housing door means to the rigidhousing, said spring bias means being sufficiently biased to normallymaintain the housing door means in a closed position and which requiresthe strength normally inherent in an adult to operate the housing doormeans to the open position, to thwart operation thereof by a child.

2. The protector device recited in claim 1 wherein the latch meansconsists of interfitting elements on the housing door means and therigid housing to latch the housing door means in the closed position,and which requires strength normally inherent in an adult to unlatch thelatch, to thwart operation thereof by a child.

3. The protector device recited in claim 2 wherein the latch means arelocated to be most accessible to the driver relative to passengersriding in the back of the automobile.

1. A protector device for use with an automobile door lock push buttonof the type which projects upwardly from the automobile door frame atthe window sill for the door window and which is raised to unlock thedoor and lowered to lock the door, comprising: a rigid housingpositioned onto the door frame and completely enclosing the push buttonexcept for an access opening defined by the rigid housing and the doorframe facing the interior of the automobile in a plane substantiallyparallel to the plane of the window, means to securely mount the rigidhousing to the door frame, access to the push button thereby beingpossible only through said access opening to thwart tampering therewithfrom the outside of the automobile when the window is closed and thedoor is locked, housing door means connected to the rigid housing, thehousing door means being selectively operable to provide access to theaccess opening in its open position and to close the access opening inits closed position, means to latch the housing door means in its closedposition to cut off access to the push button, spring bias meansconnecting the housing door means to the rigid housing, said spring biasmeans being sufficiently biased to normally maintain the housIng doormeans in a closed position and which requires the strength normallyinherent in an adult to operate the housing door means to the openposition, to thwart operation thereof by a child.
 2. The protectordevice recited in claim 1 wherein the latch means consists ofinterfitting elements on the housing door means and the rigid housing tolatch the housing door means in the closed position, and which requiresstrength normally inherent in an adult to unlatch the latch, to thwartoperation thereof by a child.
 3. The protector device recited in claim 2wherein the latch means are located to be most accessible to the driverrelative to passengers riding in the back of the automobile.